Brighton

VIC, 3186

Distance to

Is more than a little posh

Bri-i-i-i-ghton. The way it rolls off locals’ tongues tells you instantly that this bayside suburb, 11 kilometres from Melbourne, is more than a little posh. While it is home to some of the city’s wealthiest residents – as well as some of its best-known sporting stars – Brighton has long been a beacon for the well-off and well-connected who in the mid-1880s ventured here looking for a comfortably sized block of land and to live by the water’s edge.

With a median price that is reaching for $2 million, Brighton has some of the city’s grandest homes – Victorians and Edwardians but also striking modern abodes, with some of the best examples dotting the foreshore, known as the Golden Mile. Some of these homes easily fetch several million dollars. At the same time, there has been a mini building boom of apartments, providing accommodation for downsizers but also some more affordable options. It is renowned, too, for some 85 brightly painted bathing boxes lining Dendy Street Beach.

Unsurprisingly, Brighton wants for nothing – it has three railways stations, multiple shopping strips, cafes and restaurants, two cinemas, a wealth of top public and private schools, sporting fields and parks as well as beaches and water sports, such as sailing.